Lastest post:

April 6, 2018

Winter hike Strbske Pleso - Vodospad Skok

Third highest waterfall in Tatra mointains from Slovakia side. You can reach it following a yellow track from Strbske Pleso (1353m) toward the mountains where you reach Vodospad Skok (1705m) after 3.9km of walking.

Yellow Track

Just follow yellow marks, they are plenty and easy to notice.

Until you enter the forest path is flat and somewhat boring if it is cloudy, but if the sky is clear, you should enjoy your calm walk with a beautiful High Tatra panorama. The path to Vodopad Skok gets harder once you enter the forest.

Dangers of winter hiking in Tatra mountains

An avalanche warning sign just after crossing the tree line and entering a subalpine area of the Tatra mountains.

The path remains relatively easy, the only difference here that during a winter hike you should not leave the path. You simply don’t know what might be buried beneath the snow.

What seems like small trees surrounding you might be only a tip of an iceberg.

This mountain creek at some places was almost covered by snow, so unless you see the ground near it, you should keep away from it as well.

Vodopad Skok

A hike is relatively easy, but the waterfall might be buried in a snow, so it is probably a good idea to hike there during a summer weather or after a long time without snow.

The most dangerous part of the journey is always getting down as people usually get more relaxed. Instead of walking down we slid which saved us a great amount of time and was really fun. If you decide to do something like that, you should take extra caution, because it is easy to slide off the road and you never know what is there.

Hiking near Strbske Pleso

Vodopad Waterfall is only a small part of what this part of the Tatra mountains has to offer. You can find a map of possible hikes in Strbske Pleso or online.

Mountains from left to right: Predne Solisko (2093.3m), Strbsky Stit (2381.4m) and Patria(2202.8m). Sadly none of them is accessible without a permission throughout a year. Luckily, one can follow yellow track to Bystra lavka (2300m) whole year or climb Krivan (2494.7m) in summer for views of the region.

If you are unable to hike around the region, it is still recommended to come to Strbske Pleso to see the lake and not far from it you can enjoy the view of “the most beautiful mountain in Slovakia and a National symbol” – Krivan.